Research Round Up 2017

Rural Workforce Distribution

Improving rural retention is not all about money

Perhaps surprisingly remuneration and incentives are not the primary factors influencing the retention of rural primary healthcare workers. Rather, complex issues including geographical, professional, financial, educational, regulatory and personal considerations are involved. MABEL evidence suggests that retention strategies should be multifaceted and 'bundled' to ensure they are tailored to the individual needs of doctors and the towns where they work.

Rural specialists satisfied but would like more support

Overall job satisfaction, and satisfaction with the variety of work and level of responsibility, show no differences across rural and metropolitan specialists, though rural specialists could benefit from better on-call support and professional development opportunities. The training of more general medical and surgical specialists, along with the continued use of overseas-trained specialists, remains important for building service capacity in smaller regional areas (<50,000 population).

Research informs rural workforce policy reform

With the extensive application of rural-focussed policies since the late 1990s rural distribution is improving. The current government nevertheless faces further challenges about how to tailor rural workforce policies to better support the general practice workforce in smaller communities. Much of the policy agenda to date has focussed on educational
and regulatory strategies, but more evidence-based interventions are needed to optimise sustainable employment conditions in these communities and reduce individual burdens.

Specialists rural outreach could alleviate rural shortages

Rural outreach service models represent a legitimate and feasible approach to improving access to specialist medical care in regional and remote Australia. Services should be appropriately targeted and coordinated around the existing primary and specialist care service base so as to maximise effectiveness. Understanding the key drivers of specialist outreach work will assist policy makers in fostering outreach services where they are needed.

GP work-location decisions are affected by family needs

The work opportunities a GP's spouse or partner and the educational stage of their children, mediated by a GP's gender, influence the likelihood of GPs working rurally. To address distribution and improve the retention of GPs in smaller communities (outside major regional centres), attractive employment opportunities for partners and good rural secondary schools are essential.

Research helps inform which locally-trained doctors go rural

Achieving an adequate supply of locally-trained rural doctors remains a key policy challenge, with proportionally fewer establishing-and early-career doctors (than late-career doctors) working in rural locations. Attracting more Australian-trained doctors of both rural and metropolitan origin into general practice remains a key element of improved rural medical supply.

Health and Wellbeing

The influence of work conditions on doctors' self-rated health

Adverse psycho-social working conditions (such as conflict in the workplace and work–life imbalance) negatively influence doctors’ self-rated health and can have flow-on effects to patient care. Gender differences are evident. For female doctors unsatisfactory work arrangements and work–life imbalance are associated with poorer self-rated health, while for male doctors poorer self-rated health is associated with task-based job stressors.